EXPLORING THE WORLD – SWITZERLAND AND THE GENEVA TECH-METAL SOUND

If we talk about Swiss metal bands, the first names that will come to your mind would probably be Eluveitie, Samael, Triptykon, Celtic Frost, or Coroner. But only a few people know that Switzerland has an amazing underground tech-metal movement with a really peculiar sound and distinguishing style. It’s made of sharp and hard-hitting syncopated riffage, continuously crossed by digital synth, and surrounded by industrial and sci-fi atmospheres. This especially developed in the city of Geneva.

The most known and representative band of this sound is definitely Sybreed. They provide a groovy and modern industrial metal. After their 2004 debut album “Slave Design”, they released three more albums with Listenable Records: “Antares” (2007), “The Pulse Of Awakening” (2009), and the latest one “God Is An Automaton” (2012). Those albums helped Sybreed gain exposure on a worldwide scale, getting to tour with bands like In Flames, Deathstars, Samael, Threat Signal, and they’ve also headlined a two week tour in Australia. Sybreed was also the first Swiss band to play at the UK’s Download Festival. On top of that, they’ve performed at Hellfest in France, Brutal Assault Festival in Czech Republic, MetalFest in Slovenia, and Euroblast 7 In Germany.

As you might have heard, they just released an amazing new music video for the song “The Line Of Least Resistance” and you better check it below! Also, if you don’t know them you should check out some of their classics like “Enema-0”, “Re-evolution”, “Bioactive”, “Challenger” and “Doomsday Party”, which can all be easily found YouTube.

NEOSIS (New Evolution Of Society Influenced by Scientism) is another band you can definitely recognize from this scene. Their innovative and futuristic sound features some really technical and funk-influenced rhythm sections. They write fast and groovy music with incisive riffage and amazing melodies. Their 2012 debut, self-titled release brought them a good following, allowing them to play at Euroblast 8 and to support bands like Periphery, Mnemic, and Raunchy. They also just finished touring the UK supporting Pain, which we’re sure will further bolster the reputation of NEOSIS.

Despite these good results, I don’t think this band gets the recognition they deserve, especially from the rising djent scene, so you absolutely should check out their music below and consider purchasing their album on iTunes. It’s tough to choose a song to suggest from their album since they’re all amazing! Maybe the best ones are “Cerebral Helix”, “Supremacy Design” (amazing bass solo here!), “Chronic Absolutism” (amazing guitar solo and chorus here!), “The New Paradigm”, the opening track “Everlasting Mind Collapse (amazing guitar solo and chorus again!), or the single “Unwilling Fate”, but this is just a matter of personal preference… They’re all incredible.

Breach The Void is another great band of the movement. Formerly known as Etna, this project was started in 2007 by Alex Anxionna (former Sybreed) and ended up releasing an album in 2010 called “The Monochromatic Era” via Coroner Records which featured the singles “Propagate” and “Subversive Mind” along with some other beautiful tracks like “Customized Genotype” (my personal favourite), “Falling”, and “Spiral”. The Sybreed influence is strong in this band, which means they deliver incredible rhythmic sessions, groovy riffage, and some hi-tech synth. In January they claimed to be looking for a new guitarist to start writing new material with. So yes, they’re currently going through some difficulties and line up changes. But we should expect some new stuff from them, hopefully sooner than later.

Last but not least, we have also a younger, forthcoming band called Mycelia. Unlike the bands mentioned above, which are all coming from Geneva, this band is based in Zurich. Their music is more oriented through a technical death metal style, featuring influences from progressive, symphonic, and electronic music as well (especially dubstep, check out their song “Paradoxical Axiom”). After some demos, their first official EP “Isolator” was released in September 2012. It features six tracks and some really heavy material, especially in songs like “The Arcadiac” or “Of Evil”. And to make it even better, you can download it for free on their Bandcamp!

Keep an eye on these guys because they recently uploaded a teaser for their debut full-length “Nova” which should drop later this year. And a few days ago, they released a new track called “Shmashmortion”, which is available for a “name-your-price” download on Bandcamp!

It is very interesting to notice how, despite their common characteristics, each one of these bands has it’s own unique guitar tone and use different kinds of synths so their music ends up having its own flavour.

But there’s more where that came from… Switzerland is also the homeland of some more amazing metal bands. Ever hear about Bern’s Breakdown Of Sanity and their mighty metalcore sound? Severely moshable, crushing shit! Also the amazing melodic death metal provided by Dreamshade from Lugano. They just released their album via Spinefarm Records. Read our review here (ehm, did you notice? Dreamshade’s drummer wears a Breach The Void t-shirt in the videoclip for “Consumed Future”). These are just a few examples of what Switzerland has to offer.

So this was our introduction to the Swiss metal underground and that music we could call “The Geneva Sound”. Did you know about this scene? Do you like its sound? Do you know any other bands coming from Switzerland? Let us know and always support underground music!